Heavy rains started in the late hours of August 9 in Badin and caused breaches in drains, devastating almost 90 percent of agriculture and about 85 percent of livestock of the district. But a persistent spell of rain a night before Eidul Fitr made the situation unbearable and uncontrollable.
Agricultural experts say that more rains and the flow of water from upper areas of Sindh towards Arabian Sea will challenge the claims of the provincial and district governments that they have the capacity to manage the situation.
According to an estimate, over 80 percent people in three talukas of Badin – Badin, Shaheed Fazil Rahu and Tando Bago – had no place to offer Eid prayer.
People in the government’s camps were unable to find a proper place to pray. Tents, food items and medicine were short in supply when people living under the open sky urgently required relief items. The majority of them complained that the distribution of relief goods was neither organised nor fair.
“Roughly 80 percent of the livestock of the district have been destroyed while the remaining are at risk,” claimed Livestock District Officer Dr Zainul Abideen.
The people depending on this sector are in a miserable condition.
“Livestock are the only source of earning for the people in villages near Amir Shah nullah and areas adjacent to Shaheed Fazil Rahu taluka but now they are unable to avail a one-time meal,” said Ameer Mandhro of the Mandhar Development Society.
Police are deployed near warehouses where the district government has gathered relief goods for the displaced families and the needy are not allowed direct access to anything. “A rain-affected family has no direct access to any official to get relief items or to lodge a complaint. The district government is totally dependent on ‘phones’ and if a common man hailing from remote areas has no contacts in high places, he has no right to get even a single bottle of potable water,” claimed Mandhro.
A total of 46 union councils of Badin have been inundated while according to an official statement issued on August 18, 414 camps have been set up where 1.44 million people are kept.
The most affected taluka is Tando Bago from where Sindh’s former home minister Dr Zulifqar Mirza was elected.
The Left Bank Outfall Drain is located in this taluka and most people believe that the drain is a major cause behind the recent destruction in the district.
Badin’s member of the Sindh Assembly, Dr Sikandar Mandhro does not hold much influence in the higher offices.
Most local nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) with limited resources are ineffective during this emergency period and Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah suggested that international donors should not be directly involved even in times of disaster.
“The provincial government does not have the capacity to face the situation. The process of rehabilitation needs to be assessed and the government does not appear to be serious. Is it a democratic step to keep locals away from the process? Educated officials can only judge the situation but political involvement will make it hard to materialise,” said Mohammad Khan Samoon, who runs an NGO.
“We have not stopped any donor. If they want to work in Badin, they must approach us officially,” said Dadlu Zohrani, in-charge of the District Disaster Management.
The Met office has predict more rains throughout the province for three or four more days and an official, on the condition of anonymity, claimed that over 100mm rain in Badin district will worsen the situation.
“The affected families living on roadsides go back to their inundated homes when rains stop but they are not being helped by the government. They don’t trust the management and are unwilling to live in the government’s camps. If the government can’t manage the situation, local organisations must be involved in relief work and I am sure it will work,” said Sameer Mandhro of the Advocacy and Awareness Society.
Several local NGOs have approached and wrote letters to different donors to help the rain-hit people of Badin.
More rains to put govt’s claims to test
